The Detectives Endowment Association of the City of New York is one of three major police unions representing police officers of the New York City Police Department. The other two being the Police Benevolent Association and Sergeants Benevolent Association.

Police unions in the United States include a large number and patchwork variety of organizations. Of those unions which conduct labor negotiations on behalf of its police members, 80% are independent and have no affiliation to any larger organized labor groups. There were a reported 800,000 sworn officers in the United States as of 2017, and an estimated 75–80% of them belonged to a union.